Region 9 volleyball: Flyers tighten race for 2nd; DH, SC also win

ST. GEORGE – The race tightened in Region 9 behind frontrunner Desert Hills. Dixie avenged its earlier loss to Pine View in the featured game Tuesday night. The Lady Thunder and Snow Canyon also won to solidify their spots at the top and bottom of the playoff picture. Here is a rundown of Tuesday night’s games:

Dixie 3, Pine View 1

It was all about execution in the Flyers’ 24-26, 25-23, 25-20, 25-16 four-game victory over the Panthers.

“The girls stuck to the game plan,” said Dixie head coach Stacy Leavitt. “They maintained focus and played to win. They are getting better everyday. Our defense has improved. We are getting good blocks and converting them to offense.”

PV opened the match with a close win in the first game, but mistakes were costly the rest of the way.

“We lost too many points on errors, both passing and serving,” said Pine View head coach Kelly Murdock. “We also need better communication out on the floor.”

Individually for Dixie, Risha Tia Tia had a 2.5 passing ratio. Kelsey Terry led the team with 12 digs. On the attack, the Lady Flyers were led by Tyler Stilson (8 kills), Tia Tia (7 kills) and Ella Burrows (6 kills). Tia Tia and Burrows also had six and five blocks, respectively.

“Our stats don’t show a lot of kills,” said Leavitt. “Pine View is so scrappy on defense. But we were hitting the ball around and kept them moving.”

The Lady Flyers move to 5-3 in region play and 11-6 overall. Dixie will travel to Snow Canyon next Tuesday. Pine View falls to 6-2 and 18-9 overall. The Lady Panthers will travel to Desert Hills on Tuesday night.

Snow Canyon 3, Hurricane 2

Hurricane probably played its best ball of the season. The Lady Tigers took a 2-1 advantage, but the Warriors pulled it out in the end in five, 25-19, 12-25, 23-25, 25-21, 16-14.

“Tonight was a pretty intense match,” said Snow Canyon head coach Ryan Rarick. “We came out great in the first set, but then things got bad for us real quick. Our hitting and serving errors piled up, and our serve-receive passing dropped tremendously. I’m really proud of the way the girls fought through and pulled out the win.”

“I couldn’t be more proud of my team,” said Hurricane head coach Content Marshall. “They played their hearts out. It was a fun game and we played well rounded.”

Individually for the Lady Warriors, Sammi Johnston led with 14 kills. Camryn Johnson dished out 28 assists. Maddi Esplin led the team with four service aces. Jamee Carpenter and Cami Utley led the team with 16 digs apiece. Johnston also had double-digit digs with 13. Savannah North led the team with three blocks.

For Hurricane, Jeanette Cram led the team with four service aces. The offense was led by Jaiden Smith (13 kills), London Gubler (11 kills), Kansas Lytle (9 kills) and Alexa Christensen (7 kills). Lytle also had 18 digs. Hailey Homer led with 36 assists, Hollie Isom led the team with 20 digs. Sierra Davis also had double digit digs with 19.

“Hurricane deserves a ton of credit,” said Rarick. “They played extremely scrappy volleyball and made us fight tooth and nail for everything tonight.”

Snow Canyon improves to 4-4 in region play and 7-17 overall. The Lady Warriors will host Dixie next Tuesday. Hurricane remains winless in region play at 0-8 and 2-14 overall. Hurricane will host Cedar on Tuesday night.

Desert Hills 3, Cedar 0

The Lady Thunder swept Cedar on the road Tuesday night 25-14, 25-10, 25-12. Desert Hills’ dominance continues in Region 9 as the Thunder remain undefeated, having only dropped one set in eight games.

Individually for Desert Hills, Charity Bradley led the team with 17 kills. Hailee Harmer led the team with 26 assists and tied the team lead for digs with Katelyn Taylor with 11 apiece. Rachel Winters and Bradley each contributed 10 digs. Winters led the team with seven service aces. Madison Clark and Jessica Harris shared the team lead in blocks with five each.

For Cedar Kylee Fields led the team with eight assists and nine digs. Katelyn Armstrong had five blocks. Kyley Beatty led the team with four kills. Shaun Bauman had seven digs.

“Defensively, Cedar really stepped it up tonight,” said Desert Hills head coach Jill Swaney. “We struggled a bit at first to put the ball in their court. After the first set, we came alive and served really well, controlling what we’ve been working on in practice. “

The Lady Thunder improve to 8-0 in region and 20-7 overall. Cedar falls to 1-7 and 8-10 overall. Desert Hills will host Pine View in a match between top teams next Tuesday. The Lady Reds will host Canyon View in a non-region match on Thursday night before traveling to Hurricane next Tuesday.

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About the Author

Darren Cole recently returned to sportswriting after a 20-plus year hiatus. While pursuing other studies, he developed an early passion for sports writing as a senior writer and sports editor for the Ricks College Scroll in 1988-89. Darren has spent the last 20 years writing legal memorandi and appellate briefs. In addition to his legal career, he has also taught legal and criminal justice courses at the university level for nine years as an adjunct professor. Darren is married to wife Lisa, has two sons and is a confessed sports junkie.